By Will Pruett, ProWrestling.net Co-Senior Staffer (@itswilltime)
Another week, another pensive Jon Moxley and Will Ospreay segment, and another Darby Allin banger. Let’s get on with the thoughts!
– Ospreay returned to the ring again – this time with no tape on his neck and a nifty new submission move set to deploy. Ospreay’s match against Ace Austin was there to prove that Ospreay is fully back and ready to handle the grind of the Owen Hart Tournament and the road to Wembley Stadium. Ace Austin’s performance was good, however I do question the length of this match. Ospreay has always been a generous opponent, but if there was ever a time to give him a quick win, this should have been it.
– The Will Ospreay and Jon Moxley relationship, along with Ospreay’s overall relationship with The Death Riders, is one of the most complex stories in AEW right now. It’s really enjoyable to watch, and I could easily see it stretching beyond All In and into the second half of the year. It could give Ospreay some extra motivation and stories to tell once he has (I assume) won the AEW Men’s World Championship. Nothing in this story has been simple, but the relationships are nicely defined and interesting to watch. I now find myself wondering when the other portion of Ospreay’s relationship-building drops involving Kenny Omega.
– The German Superplex (or avalanche bridging German Suplex?) in Darby Allin vs. Konosuke Takeshita caused me to jump out of the chair I was watching this show in. I was stunned and ended up rewinding about four times to watch this move again. You know what? I think I’ll watch it again all day today
– There is an amazing electricity to the end of Darby Allin’s AEW Men’s World Championship matches. They feel like desperate gasps at the title, getting closer and closer to losing it, then finally grabbing onto it again. This “’til the wheels fall off” reign has been one of the most dynamic and exciting title reigns I have ever seen – not just because of the frequency and quality of the matches, but because of Darby’s unique intensity in the ring. Takeshita vs. Darby Allin was another Dynamite classic, and Allin’s title reign has become something completely unique in wrestling history.
– MJF’s evening of bald man confrontations and contract signing was delightful. There are more bald humans on the roster than on the Tennessee Titans coaching staff, which is rather impressive. MJF sinking deeper into desperation without the AEW Championship is really fun to watch as he debates whether or not that title is worth risking his hair. As an aside, I find it hilarious that MJF’s hair being the result of a procedure is openly discussed in AEW. John Cena could never.
– AEW revealed the Owen Hart Tournament brackets on this show, and I found a couple of things surprising in them. The men’s bracket feels like a forgone conclusion based more on the result of Bandido vs. Swerve Strickland than anything else. Should Swerve win, we are in for a Swerve vs. Ospreay final. If Bandido wins, I would expect a Claudio Castagnoli vs. Ospreay final (Death Riders story again!). On the women’s side, I am surprised by the lack of Mercedes Moné. I expected All In to culminate in her finally winning the AEW Women’s World Championship, and now we know that will not be her path.
– With a little bit of extra time before All In (and plenty of time to hold this tournament), I would have appreciated it if AEW had expanded each bracket to sixteen instead of eight. Yes, that makes sixteen more matches to cram in mostly on Collision and Dynamite, but AEW would have been able to keep people guessing a little bit more about the results of the Owen Hart Tournament.
– Disqualification finishes in AEW always bum me out, and they seem to happen more frequently when Thekla, Skye Blue, and Julia Hart are involved in matches. I know the effort is being made to make them evil, dastardly baddies who don’t follow the rules, but after decades of disqualifications as cheap cop-outs, it is hard not to view this one as a cheap cop-out. This is particularly true when the one women’s match on the show has this kind of finish – and that match is in the middle of a Thekla championship reign in need of improvement.
– Kevin Knight vs. Brian Cage for the TNT Championship was a fun in-ring experience. Cage is a nice addition to the Don Callis Family B-Team and looked really good (if frighteningly muscular) in his first match back. Kevin Knight continues to pop up in interesting places – being a part of Speedball Bailey’s challenge after this match and rescuing Darby Allin from MJF at the end of this show. Knight getting more involved in main event stories is further evidence that his rise in 2026 has not concluded.
– Speaking of Speedball Bailey, if he is the last AEW Men’s World Championship defense for Darby Allin before the wheels fall off at Double or Nothing, we will need to talk about this reign as AEW’s best – and talk about each opponent in it as a major reason why it overachieved.
There it is! Sure, more things happened on this show, but 10 Thoughts is the legal limit for this weekly blog on Dynamite. I literally cannot have more thoughts.
Will Pruett writes about wrestling and popular culture at prowrestling.net. To see his video content subscribe to his YouTube channel. To contact, check him out on Bluesky @itswilltime, leave a comment, or email him at itswilltime@gmail.com.
” There is an amazing electricity to the end of Darby Allin’s AEW Men’s World Championship matches.”
Ratings have dropped 150k per week with that zero talent muppet as champ. It’s an all-time run of killing the business.